Little Lucy has an imaginary friend, the likes of which you鈥檝e never seen before.
The four-year-old鈥檚 companion, Mr. Marmalade, is a frequently abusive cocaine addict with a personal assistant.
鈥淗e鈥檚 kind of a collage of the sort of dream man and alpha male in all his good and bad qualities,鈥� said Christine Quintana, who plays Lucy in Latchkey Co-op鈥檚 upcoming production Mr. Marmalade. 鈥淗e鈥檚 like Romeo and [Mad Men鈥檚] Don Draper and all kinds of bad people鈥�
Depending on how Lucy鈥檚 feeling he changes. Sometimes he鈥檚 charming, sometimes he鈥檚 dangerous.鈥�
Quintana, co-artistic producer of Delinquent Theatre, and Chelsea Haberlin, Mr. Marmalade鈥檚 director and co-artistic director of ITSAZOO Productions, formed the Latchkey Co-op specifically to present Mr. Marmalade at Little Mountain Gallery, Aug. 20 to 30.
鈥淚t鈥檚 such a pleasure to have a dark, dark comedy that really has something to say,鈥� Quintana said.
Written by Detroit-based playwright Noah Haidle a decade ago, Mr. Marmalade focuses on Lucy who has a wild imagination and is often left alone.
鈥淟ike a lot of kids, her imagination is fed by the things she sees in real life, but unfortunately, not all of the things that she鈥檚 seen in her real life are things that a four-year-old should have to see,鈥� Quintana said. 鈥淗er imagination is a crazy mix of kids鈥� TV and adult TV and real life as a kid and real life as an adult.鈥�
Lucy and Mr. Marmalade play out relationship tropes such as the abusive partner, the enabling partner and the ideal housewife.
鈥淲hen you put them on a four-year-old child it seems bizarre and really grotesque and upsetting and makes you kind of realize how saturated we are with some really perverse gender roles and just roles in general,鈥� Quintana said.
鈥淚 was just in a Toys鈥楻鈥橴s鈥� there鈥檚 still a pink section and a blue section. There鈥檚 guns and armour for the boys and tea sets and purses and fake makeup for girls,鈥� she continued. 鈥淪o you wonder where does it start and how early do these impressions get made, especially in a culture now where when you gave a kid a book, you knew what book they had. When you give a kid an iPad, you don鈥檛 know what they鈥檙e seeing out there.鈥�
Mr. Marmalade highlights how children form impressions of the world through watching adults interact, pop music and TV.
鈥淭heir brains are little sponges. They take in everything that surrounds them. And when you consider you take a growing mind like that and you put it in a toxic environment what that can create,鈥� Quintana said. 鈥淎ll of us can list some formative experiences that were maybe unremarkable to our parents or our caregivers, but to us they leave a big stamp on you and it shapes who you become鈥� so a lot of it is how to let go of those things and go back to the real you, or finding the real you.鈥�
But Quintana doesn鈥檛 want the darkness to deter theatregoers from seeing what she says is a hilarious comedy.
鈥淚t鈥檚 a lot of fun going into the imagination of a four-year-old because we鈥檙e not talking always about realistic drama here,鈥� Quintana said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got some wild props, some music numbers are hilarious. There鈥檚 a couple of other invisible friends that come in that have costumes that we only just recently managed to be able to look at without laughing.鈥�
Jay Clift (Bug, Cool Beans, Someone Who鈥檒l Watch Over Me), who won the Sam Payne Award for the most promising newcomer this year at the Jessie Awards, plays Mr. Marmalade. Cast members include Amitai Marmorstein (Of Mice and Men, Trespassers, Nelly Boy); Kayla Dunbar (Avenue Q, Busytown); Brett Harris (Mojo), Sebastien Archibald (Killer Joe, Clybourne Park); and new University of B.C. bachelor of fine arts acting graduate Sarah Canero.
鈥淛ust a really amazing group of emerging artists,鈥� Quintana said. 鈥淭his is kind of like our summer camp as we鈥檙e all working to try to get gigs for the year to come, our summer camp to stay sharp and have some fun doing what we love together.鈥�
Mr. Marmalade starts at 7 p.m. at 195 East 26th Ave., just off Main Street. Tickets are $10 for the preview on Aug. 20,聽 $15聽 at brownpapertickets.com or phone 1-800-838-3006, or $18 at the door, cash only.
